A kid had cut open a golf ball and had eaten the liquid center. The stuff in this case was a thick, dark fluid, and the child’s mother naturally assumed that it was some petroleum product. She frantically called the family doctor, and as she was rushing to the doctor’s office with the apparently poisoned kid, the general practitioner was rapidly flipping through the "Common Household Poisons" book. There was no mention of golf balls in it. The doctor called up a golf ball manufacturer and explained the situation; but they said that their golf balls had a solid core.

"I wish I’d asked the name of the manufacturer!" the doctor lamented.

The ball manufacturer helpfully named their sole competitor that made balls with liquid centers.

Another quick phone call, and the answer: the center was made of cod liver oil.